My Experience on Research Collaboration with China

1. My Experience on Research Collaboration with China Songwu Lu UCLA Computer Science

2. Outline • My experiences • DragonStar program • CSC funded Ph.D. students • MSRA • UCLA-PKU Joint Research Institute • New US-style Research Center: PKU CECA • Misc. • Some observations • Misperceptions on Research in China • University vs Industry • Strategy: Short term, Long term, Best of both?

3. DragonStar Program • First experience at USTC in 2005 • 200+ graduate students from various regions of China • Good: Excellent program to introduce US style graduate course education to China • Headache: too much work; not enough time to touch base on research • Suggestion for next-step: • Establish research summer camp • A group of US researchers • PhD students who have worked on research topics • One-one research interaction on topics students work on for 3~4 weeks • Joint effort by NSF and NSFC?

4. CSC Funded PhD Students • Worked with 5 Ph.D. students + 2 young faculty members from three top Chinese Universities for one year each • Good: 3 worked out well • Bad: 4 did not work out as expected • Lessons: • Helper not lead: Team up with our senior PhD students • 1 year is not enough • Students work out better • Say NO to some Chinese professors on student rec

5. MSRA • 1-year+ sabbatical during 2007~2008 • Best experiences so far • 3+2 top conference papers over time • Tips: • Work best with those with solid background but a little hazy on directions & research styles • Keep track of top conferences, work • US-styled research environment in China • Natural hierarchy with one or two junior talents • Do NOT bring your own students with you • Easy to go back to old areas

6. UCLA-PKU JRI • Joint research institute started in 2009 • Sent students to PKU for summer interns • Establish ties with PKU professors • 1~2 visits to each campus • Good: leverage local infrastructure & undergraduate resource at PKU, long-term driven • Hazy: span many areas, CS is only a small part

7. Center for Energy-efficient Computing and Applications (CECA) at PKU • US-styled research center at PKU, headed by Prof. Jason Cong at UCLA • Strong support from PKU leadership • Funding from PKU and local companies • 15 faculty slots (tenure-track system) • Global recruitment mainly from US-educated fresh PhDs • Advise PhD students from the start • PKU student interns in the summer • US tenure evaluation • 4 adjunct faculty members so far from US schools as mentors • Research Focus: Green computing • More info: http://ceca.pku.edu.cn

8. Other Activities • Regular interactions with people @ Tsinghua • field trials of green 3G & 802.11n this summer • Guest lecture in courses • Organizing conferences • Local companies in China • Industry research project, consulting, …

9. Strategy for Short Term Best short-term practice • Can see immediate results • Research centers/labs by US/European companies • 100+ of them in Beijing and Shanghai • Leaders are mostly US educated PhDs • Similar research culture and technical language • Very focused, hard-working and talented local PhDs • Best local PhDs tend to go to industry rather than stay in academia

10. Strategy for Long Term Best long-term: Chinese University • Research centers start to show signs of problems • US/European faculty visitors • Student interns (best talent kept in schools now) • University research quality improving • Unique features of Chinese university research • Half research, half engineering • More deployment, field trial opportunities, more accessible to operation traces • Rich and flexible funding support • Top schools are trying hard to improve their ranking in the world stage • Be patient with multi-dimensional uncertainty factors

11. Best of Both? • New US-styled research centers within Chinese university systems • Similar to the 4 “Special Economic Zones” in China established 30+ years ago • Very flexible policies and US-style management/evaluation systems • Examples in CS: Andrew Yao’s center @ Tsinghua, CECA @PKU

12. Misperceptions • US & china are complementary in research • “Lots” of (cheap) students in china: not any more • Lots of equipment funding: facility management is @early stage • Infinite deployment/trial possibilities: policy/political issues • Shortcuts • Experimental versus theoretical research • Top journals versus conferences • IP cores owned by China: Industry standards, patents etc. • Priorities: national prize, inner circles, …

13. Industry vs Academia? • Interesting contrasts: • Best local PhD graduates go to industry • US trained PhDs join Chinese universities • Chinese companies are another source for collaboration • Local companies set up research centers in US • More funding for US schools • Some of the best talents • More aggressive work style

14. Misperceptions • Results • “Easy” & “productive” collaboration on the surface • Very welcomed by local universities • Speak the same terms/buzzwords, but mean different things • Local people love the hot topics in US we tell them • Much nicer local receptions each time • Different national and regional programs to support overseas researchers visiting China • Ease of local funding support • You help on the proposal, they get the funding and credit, you get the various honorary positions/titles offered by various programs in universities

15. Things we can do • Send your own PhD students to Chinese universities after graduation • The best group to work with in the future • Identify complementary interest/expertise • Be more patient • When working with Chinese universities • Finding the right person is challenging • Senior versus junior people • People with resources are not hands on any more • Taking time to build “personal” relations on top of technical collaboration